Ghost of a Chance - Mark Garland [1]
He had half expected to find some tangible evidence of his strange visions as he joined the day shift, so real were the images. He had already gone over most of the duty and sensor logs from the previous shifts, reviewing everything that had happened while he slept, but nothing out of the ordinary had turned up.
Chakotay stepped forward and down, then walked slowly about the bridge's main, lower level, letting the dreams quiet themselves, absorbing the gray-and-black reality of the walls and railings, the strangely comforting electronic glow of many lit panels at the engineering and science stations.
"Six minutes, Commander," Kim said.
"Very well. Captain to the bridge," Chakotay called out, raising his voice to engage the intercom system. It was a routine stop, but one that Kathryn Janeway, captain of the Starship Voyager, had been looking forward to. She and Tuvok had devised a method of replenishing the impulse engines' deuterium tanks, at least in theory. In just a few minutes they were going to put those ideas into practice.
A few moments later Captain Janeway strode smartly onto the bridge, followed closely by the Talaxian, Neelix. She wore her uniform trim and proper, her hair tucked up into a neat bun on the back of her head, no strand or thread or movement out of place. She stood in stark contrast to Neelix, whose short frame, oddly spotted face, scruffy wisps of orange hair, and bright, multicolored tunic made him seem somewhat clownlike in her presence.
They made an effective team, however: the eager, ardent and decidedly capricious alien was Voyager's only guide in this part of the galaxy, and Janeway's straightforward discipline, along with a certain measure of insight, allowed her to make good use of Neelix's counsel.
Janeway, like her first officer, made a quick visual inspection as she stepped down and stood at ease near the center of the bridge, beside Chakotay. She folded her arms with a look of satisfaction. "Report," she said.
"Three minutes to arrival," Kim responded.
"It's right where Neelix said it would be." Paris glanced back, raising an affable eyebrow to the alien.
"Thank you," Neelix replied cheerily, bowing briefly from the waist.
He smiled at the captain. "I think you'll find the Drenarian system will provide the perfect opportunity to test your ideas. The system contains several gas giants, most with an assortment of moons that should make any captain happy as can be."
"Thank you, Neelix," Janeway answered him, adding a crisp nod.
She let half a grin slip before turning away. "Bridge to Engineering."
The voice of B'Elanna Torres, Voyager's half-human, half-Klingon chief engineer came instantly back, "Yes, Captain."
"How are we doing?"
"We're all set down here. Whenever you're ready."
"You haven't explained exactly what it is you're going to do," Neelix said, tipping his head to one side almost birdlike as he awaited Janeway's reply.
She hadn't explained the details of the plan to anyone, really.
She had been a scientist long before becoming an officer, and she had a habit of forgetting that many of those around her did not possess those same credentials.
"We're going to use the Bussard ramscoops to draw raw material from a suitable moon around one of Drenar's largest gas giants.
We're hoping several of them will have rich hydrogen-methane atmospheres. We should then be able to convert the collected material into usable deuterium slush--at least that's what Torres and I have in mind."
"A full description of the conversion process is available in the computer, should anyone wish to examine it," Tuvok noted. "I can supply you with the file location."
Neelix, for his part, made no immediate request.
"We have reached the coordinates," Kim reported.
"Go to impulse," Chakotay ordered.
"Disengaging main drive," Lieutenant Paris said, touching points on the panel before him. The instant the ship dropped out of warp